Safety-razor.



No. 650,337. Patented May 22, |900.

W. H. NICHLLS.

SAFETY RAZOR.

(Application led July 30, 1898.)

(No Model.)

we Norms PETERS no, vnooumo.. WASHINGTON, n. c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VALTER II. NICHOLLS, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSGNOR TO THE LIBBY, HARLOV'U COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

` SAFETY-RAZOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 650,387, dated Va'y 22, 1900.

Serial No: 687,335. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER H. NIcHoLLs, 'of Lynn, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Safety-Razors, of which the followingr description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters and iigures on the drawings representing like parts.- This invention relates to that type of razors known as safety-razors, and it has for its object the production of various novel features of construction and arrangement whereby the operation of the device is improved and the various adjustments necessary for the eective use of the razor simplified.

The various novel features of the invention A will be fully described hereinafter in the specihas one edge cut away to leave lugs b, which4 tication and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is an end elevation of a razor embodying my invention in substantially the position it is used. Fig. 2 is a left-hand side elevation thereof, viewing Fig. l, with the blade omitted. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line x Fig. 1, through the body looking to the left; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail in section and plan of the joint connecting the handle and the frame.A

The frame A, made', preferably, of suitable thin and elastic sheet metal, is substantially U-shaped in cross-section, and its under side is bent to form a longitudinal groove ctx therein, while one limb, as ct, is out away at a' to leave arms a2. y

A blade-holder, shown as an open plate B,

are bent over at their ends at ZJ' to hook into the arms of the limb a of the frame to thus pivotally connect the blade-holder to the latter. The blade-holder is provided at its sides with ears b2, bent over its outer face to receive the sides of the blade BX, Fig. l, and one or more springs s (two being herein shown) are secured to the holder and have their free ends extended beyond the outer face'of the holder to engage the under face of the blade B and tending to push it backward out of the ears h2 and against the opposite limb a3 of the frame A when the blade-holder is securedin operativeposition. This limb is slotted from its upper edge down toward tliebottoln of the frame, as at c4, Figs. l and 2, to receive the shouldered end c of a thumb-nut c', which is threaded onto a screw-stud b3, attached to the free edge of the blade-holder B, and the ends of the limb are preferably turned over, as at aso. Referring to Figs. l and 2, it will be seen that the part c of the nut enters the slot a4, and by screwing the nut c' up on the stud b3 the blade-holder may be 4firmly held in fullline position, (shown in Fig. 1,) or it may be moved to bring the blade nearer the edge of the limb a3, the position of the nut at such time being shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1 to thereby adjust the angular position of the blade B on the frame. By screwing up the nut still farther the limbs of the frame are drawn toward each other, the resiliency of the material of the frame permitting this, thereby tending to Vpush the blade toward the limb ct and to consequently bring it nearer the guard to be described. By slacking up on the nut the limbs of the frame will separate, and then the springs s act on the blade to force it toward the limb a3, drawing it away from the guard. It will thus be seen that the means for retaining the blade-holder in operative position also has the function of adjusting the edge of the blade relatively to the guard.

Then it is desired to remove the blade for any purpose, as for sharpening, the bladeholder is swung on its pivot until the blade can be withdrawn from the ears b2, and in cleaning the razor the entire blade-holder may be swung over into dotted-line position, (shown in Fig. 1,) or even farther, to expose its inner portion and also to leave the interior of the frame entirely clear and open.

The blade-holder is herein shown as provided with two inturned hooked lugs b4, on which is pivotally mounted the guard, said guard being formed of aseries of curved bentover fingers g, mounted on an open framework gX, the said fingers projecting more or less through the cut-away part a of the limb ct of the frame and projecting beyond it, as clearly shown in Figs. l and 2, the convex portions of the guard-fingers being located below the edge of the blade when the latter is in position, as shown in Fig. 1. The free lss end of the framework gx has arecess-g therein, in which is extended a threaded stud b5, fast on the inner side of the blade-holder and adapted to receive an adjusting-nut 116, which is threaded onto the stud and held in place by a clip g2 onV the guard-frame, the framework gX being located between the nut and the blade-holder. If the nut b be rotated in one direction or the other, the guard-frame gX will be rocked on its fulcra 20, Fig. 2, in one direction or the other to thereby adjust the guard g toward or away from the under side of the blade and thus adapt the razor to different cuts, according as it is desired to shave lightly or very closely.A It is very convenient and desirable to provide the razor with a handle which may be adjusted at relative angles thereto in order to facilitate the convenient use of thel razor, and for this purpose I have herein shown the handle H as attached to the frame by a series of ball-and- Socket locked joints, details of which on a large scale are illustrated in Fig. 4. At a point midway between the ends of the groove LX in the under side of the holder I have mounted a spherical socket o, slotted' at right angles to the groove eX, as at d', and in parallelisln therewith, as at d2, the said socket receiving and holding therein a ba-ll member d, having a threaded stem d4 to screw into the threaded end h of the handle, the end of the handle being concaved, as at h', Fig. 4, tov

fit the exterior of the socket d. By screwing the handle up tightly on the threaded stem d4 of the ball the handle can be firmly locked upon the socket, the position of the handle depending upon circumstances. It may be turned down into the groove@ at one or the other side of the socket, the reduced portion (ZX of the ball-shank then entering one or the other of the notches cl2, or the handle'may be locked at right angles to the under side of the frame A, as in Fig. l. The handle may also be locked at any intermediate point in the, plane of the length of the groove, and it may be locked in a transverse position by bringing the shank into one or the other of the slots d' of the socket and locking the handle in place thereat. To facilitate this latter adjustment, the frame is out away at al@ at opposite sides of the socket, as clearly shown yin Fig. 4. By the construction herein shown and described a great range of adjustment for the handle is provided in a simple and effective manner, and bymounting the bladeholder in such manner that it may be turned entirely away from the frame ready access may be had to the interior of the latter and to the` inner side of the blade-holderl either to clean the parts .vor to effect the desired adjustment of the guard g, as hereinbefore described.

5 The overturned ends e30 of the limb ag act as abutments for the back of the blade near its ends to thereby prevent any rocking of the blade and cause it tol be held rmlyin its place inthe blade-holder when the latter is in operative position.

My invention is not restricted to the precise construction and arrangement herein shown, as the same may be modied without departing from the spirit and. scope of my invention. A i

Having 'described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a safetyrazor, a transverselybent elastic frame, a blade-holder pivotally mountedV thereon, and meansto retain said bladeholder in operative position and to adjust the blade, substantially as described.

2. In a safety razor, a transversely bent elastic frame, a blade-holder pivotally mounted thereon, and means to adjust the angle of the blade-holder and maintain it in operative adjusted position, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a safety-razor, a frame, a blade-holder pivotal] y mounted thereon, and a guard carried by the said blade-holder, substantially as described.

4. In a safety-razor, av frame, a blade-holder mounted thereon, a guard carried by the-bladeholder, and means to adjust thev guard, substantially as described.

5. In a safety -razor, a transversely bent elastic frame, having a longitudinal, external groove in its under side, and a handle connected with the frame and adapted to be turned down into the groove, substantial-ly as described.

G. A safety-razor having a substantially U shaped open-ended elastic frame, a bladeholder pivotally mounted on onelimb thereof, and means to retain the blade-holder in operative position on the frame, substantially as described.

7. A safety-razor having a substantiallyV U shaped elastic frame, a blade-holder pivotally mounted on one limb thereof, a guard 'carried by the blade-holder, and means to retain the blade-holder in operative position and to also effect relative adjustment of the edge of the blade and the guard, substantially as described.

S. A safety-razorhaving a substantially U shaped elastic frame, ablade-holder pivotally mounted on one limb thereof, and retaining- 4lugs onsaid holder, for the sides of the blade,

a spring to act on theI under face of the blade and normally retractit, and a retaining device on said holder to engage the adjacent limb of the frame and control they separation of the limbs thereof, the back of the blade in operative position being held byits spring against the adjacent limb of the frame, substantially as described.

9. A safety-razor having a substantial-ly U shaped elastic frame, a blade-holder having its front edge recessed to form ears pivotally connected with one limb of the frame, a guard formed of a series of down-turned, curved iingers mounted on the under side of the blade- IIO holder and adapted to extend beyond the frame, means to adjust said guard, and a retaining device to maintain the blade-holder in operative position on the frame, substantially as described.

l0. In a safety-razor, a frame and a bladeholder, a handle, and an adjustable connection between it and the frame whereby the handle can be adjusted and positively maintained at various angles with the frame, substantially as described.

1l. In a safety-razor, the frame, a handle,

a socket on one and a coperating ball on the other, to connect the frame and handle, and means to lock the handle in adjusted position, substantially as described.

l2. In a safety razor, a substantially U f shaped elastic frame having one limb out away and provided with a longitudinal groove in its under side, a blade-holder, a guard mounted thereon and projecting into the cut-away portion of the frame, and a handle jointed to the frame within the groove between its ends and adapted to be turned down thereinto, substantially as described.

13. A safety-razor having a substantially U shaped elastic frame, a blade-holder mounted thereon and provided with lugs to engage the sides of the blade, a spring to act on the under face of and normally retract the blade, and means to vary the separation of the limbs of the frame, the back of the blade when in operative position being held against the adjacent limb of the blade by said spring, substantially as described.

14. In a safetyrazor, a frame, a bladeholder mounted lthereon, a guard pivotally mounted on said blade-holder, and means to rock the guard relatively to the blade-holder and thereby adjust the guard, substantially as described.

l5. In a safety-razor, a substantially U- shaped elastic frame having end abutments on one of its limbs, a blade-holder pivotally mounted on the other limb of the frame, means to retain the blade on said holder with its back against the abutments, and a retaining device to hold the blade-holder in operative position on the frame, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

VALTER I-I. NICIIOLLS. l/Vitnesses:

JOHN C. EDWARDS, AUGUSTA E. DEAN. 

